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Celebrating 35 years of making Medicare more accessible, affordable, and equitable!

Casey Schwarz

Senior Counsel, Education & Federal Policy

Issue Brief Finds that Medicare Complexity Outpaces Counseling Resources

Last week, the Center on Aging at the American Institute for Research (AIR) released a set of issue briefs detailing the complexities of enrolling in Medicare. One of the briefs, Medicare Complexity Taxes Counseling Resources Available to Beneficiaries, highlights Medicare choices and the personalized counseling available to beneficiaries and their families.

Advocates Sign Letter Urging Congress to Improve Health Care Programs for Residents of Puerto Rico

This week, the Medicare Rights Center signed onto a letter from the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations calling for a Congressional task force to improve Medicare and other health programs for residents of Puerto Rico. These suggested reforms would increase fairness and provide essential access to benefits. The suggestions include improving low income support programs, enhancing Medicaid funding, and providing for automatic enrollment for certain people eligible for Medicare as takes place for residents of the states.

Medicare Rights Responds to CMS Questions about People who have Medicare and Marketplace Coverage

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires Marketplace plans to keep people unless they ask to disenroll or stop paying their premiums under a consumer protection called “guaranteed renewability.” This means that people have a right to keep a plan that they are in and their plan cannot drop them because they become older or sicker.

In a recently proposed rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) asks whether this protection conflicts with a longstanding Medicare law that prohibits a health plan from selling a policy to a person who already has Medicare. Medicare Rights responded that guaranteed renewability should be maintained, based on both the simple reading of the law and on fundamental fairness.

Medicare Rights Center and Partners Ask CMS to Revisit Seamless Conversion Practices

Last week, the Medicare Rights Center and partner organizations, including Justice in Aging, the Center for Medicare Advocacy, and the National Council on Aging, wrote to the Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), to urge the agency to revisit the policy that allows certain private insurance companies to automatically enroll certain people into Medicare Advantage plans.

CMS Asks: Are People Being Steered Away from Their Best Insurance Options?

The Medicare Rights Center (Medicare Rights) responded to a request for information (RFI) from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) asking about inappropriate steering practices encouraging people into coverage that is not right for them. CMS raises concerns about whether providers, plans, or others who stand to gain from an individual’s enrollment decisions may improperly influence people who may be eligible for Medicare or Medicaid to decline public health insurance and retain private market coverage or convince people to give up private market coverage in favor of Medicare or Medicaid.

New Bill Seeks to Improve Medicare Coverage and Enrollment

Congress took steps this week to improve Medicare coverage and enrollment rules by introducing the “The Medicare Affordability and Enrollment Act of 2016.” If passed, the bill would create an out-of-pocket spending cap, reform the Medicare enrollment process by reducing penalties and gaps in coverage, and increase support for lower-income beneficiaries.

Medicare Rights Center Comments on Proposed Changes to Medicare Physician Fee Schedule

Last week, the Medicare Rights Center submitted comments in response to proposals from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to update and change aspects of the Physician Fee Schedule. This annual, proposed rule includes specific information about the payment rate for select services as well as broad policy initiatives and changes.

Medicare Advocates Submit Statement on Part B Prescription Drug Model

This week, Medicare Rights Center, along with a coalition of 20 organizations sent a letter expressing support for the mission and goals of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), including the proposed Part B Drug Payment Model. CMMI is the part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) tasked with developing and evaluating ways to make the Medicare program more value-driven, more efficient, and more effective at delivering and paying for needed care.

Medicare Rights Comments to Protect Appeal Rights

This week, Medicare Rights responded to proposals from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that would make changes to the Medicare appeals process. Medicare Rights was supportive of some proposals to streamline and modernize the appeals process, and expressed concern about others that may undermine important beneficiary rights and protections.

Over 70 Groups Urge Lawmakers to Support Bill to Simplify Part B Enrollment

This week, 73 state and national organizations representing older adults, people with disabilities, health insurers, unions, and health care providers expressed strong support for the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) Act (H.R. 5772 and S. 3236) in letters to the bill’s lead House and Senate sponsors, Congressmen Raul Ruiz (D-CA) and Patrick Meehan (R-PA) and Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY).